University of Illinois begins $60M faculty recruiting effort

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - University of Illinois President Tim Killeen says now the state has a budget the school can officially launch an initiative aimed at recruiting top faculty.

The three-year, $60 million program was announced in May. The university system said Thursday that the system's universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield now can make proposals for money to recruit professors. The objective is to bring in tenured, high-achieving faculty in a broad range of academic disciplines.

The plan is called the President's Distinguished Faculty Recruitment Program. Under the program, $10 million would be committed from the university system to recruitment efforts each year, matched by each of the three campuses.

The goal is to hire 10 to 15 new faculty members each year, or 45 over three years.